This week on Summer Series, we're highlighting 3 of the several episodes on a special called "Explained." The first season of episodes is available free on YouTube by searching the Netflix channel for the full playlist of episodes. This is great because teachers do not need a Netflix account to access them! 

Explained is a series that was published by Netflix but created by Vox Media Studios and Vox. It is an enlightening explainer series that takes viewers deep into a wide range of culturally relevant topics, questions, and ideas. Each episode explores current events and social trends and can touch on topics across politics, science, history and pop culture. My favorite part of the series is the interviews that are highlighted from conversations with some of the most authoritative experts and influencers in their respective fields.

In this episode below, the stock market is explained. Does the stock market accurately reflect the status of the economy? Finance specialists discuss market history, valuations and CEO incentives. The episode has been viewed over 9.2 million times! 

(US Rating: TV-MA. This show is designed for for mature audiences only.)

In this next episode, the racial wealth gap is explained. Cory Booker and others discuss how slavery, housing discrimination and centuries of inequality have compounded to create a racial wealth gap. The episode has been viewed nearly one million times. 

(US Rating: TV-MA. This show is designed for for mature audiences only.)

In this last episode I'll highlight, the gender pay gap is explained. Anne-Marie Slaughter and other women discuss the cultural norms at the center of the worldwide gender pay gap, including the "motherhood penalty."

(US Rating: TV-MA. This show is designed for for mature audiences only.)

What do you think of the series? Let us know in our educators-only online forum, FinLit Fanatics.

About the Author

Yanely Espinal

Born and raised by Dominican, immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Yanely is a proud product of NYC public schools. She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 2007 before going on to receive her bachelor's degree at Brown University in 2011. As a Teach For America corps member, Yanely taught third and fourth grade in Canarsie, Brooklyn. She received her master's degree from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2013. She spends her spare time making YouTube videos about personal finance on her channel, MissBeHelpful. Yanely also loves to dance, sew, paint, listen to podcasts, and babysit her 10 nieces and nephews!